The present invention provides a method for forming a high-k metal oxide. By using a small amount of a precursor mainly composed of trisilyl amine (TSA, chemical formula: N(SiH3)3) to generate silicon dioxide (SiO2), and incorporating it into a high-k metal oxide with an organometallic compound as its precursor, a high-performance high-k metal oxide with a good interface layer to the substrate is formed. This approach effectively prevents leakage in a metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structure and achieves a transistor gate oxide layer with high dielectric constant, low leakage current, high breakdown voltage, and high reliability, while also lowering production costs.

In an embodiment, a method for nitriding a substrate is provided. The method includes flowing a nitrogen-containing source and a carrier gas into a plasma processing source coupled to a chamber such that a flow rate of the nitrogen-containing source is from about 3% to 20% of a flow rate of the carrier gas; generating an inductively-coupled plasma (ICP) in the plasma processing source by operating an ICP source, the ICP comprising a radical species formed from the nitrogen-containing source, the carrier gas, or both; and nitriding the substrate within the chamber, wherein nitriding includes operating a heat source within the chamber at a temperature from about 150 C. to about 650 C. to heat the substrate; maintaining a pressure of the chamber from about 50 mTorr to about 2 Torr; introducing the ICP to the chamber; and adjusting a characteristic of the substrate by exposing the substrate to the radical species.

A thin film deposition system deposits a thin film on a substrate in a thin film deposition chamber. The thin film deposition system deposits the thin film by flowing a fluid into the thin film deposition chamber. The thin film deposition system includes a byproducts sensor that senses byproducts of the fluid in an exhaust fluid. The thin film deposition system adjusts the flow rate of the fluid based on the byproducts.

A semimetal liner and a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor (MIMCAP) are described along with the methods of manufacture or fabrication. The MIM capacitor structure includes a liner formed of a thin layer or film of a semimetal, which is a few nanometers thick, e.g., a thickness in the range of about 0.5 nm to about 5 nm or more. The semimetal liner is sandwiched between an electrode layer and a dielectric layer, e.g., a layer of high or ultra-high-k material, thereby providing a cap for the electrode to limit leakage currents in the structure.

An antiferroelectric field effect transistor (Anti-FeFET) of a memory cell includes an antiferroelectric layer instead of a ferroelectric layer. The antiferroelectric layer may operate based on a programmed state and an erased state in which the antiferroelectric layer is in a fully polarized alignment and a non-polarized alignment (or a random state of polarization), respectively. This enables the antiferroelectric layer in the FeFET to provide a sharper/larger voltage drop for an erase operation of the FeFET (e.g., in which the FeFET switches or transitions from the programmed state to the erased state) relative to a ferroelectric material layer that operates based on switching between two opposing fully polarized states.

A semiconductor device in which variation in electrical characteristics is small is provided. A first insulator is deposited, a metal oxide is device over the first insulator, a second insulator is device over the metal oxide, an oxide film is device over the second insulator, and heat treatment is performed, whereby hydrogen in the first insulator, the second insulator, and the oxide is transferred and absorbed into the metal oxide. The metal oxide is formed by an ALD method.

A method for selectively printing metal oxide dielectric films using directed fluidic assembly is provided. The metal oxide films are printed from a liquid suspension of nanoparticulate precursors using a dip coating mechanism. The resulting films can be fully cured at about 100 C. in conjunction with UV photoannealing. The printed metal oxide films can serve as the dielectric material for a variety of passive and active electronic devices. The method reduces cost and energy consumption for the fabrication of electronic devices, and can be used to fabricate devices on flexible polymer substrates.

The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatuses for selective deposition on a surface. In particular, a silicon-containing inhibitor can be used to selectively bind to a first region, thus inhibiting deposition of a material on that first region.

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a dielectric layer conformally over a plurality of fins on a substrate, forming a first high-k layer conformally over the dielectric layer, and forming a flowable oxide over the first high-k layer. Forming the flowable oxide includes filling first trenches adjacent fins of the plurality of fins. The method further includes recessing the flowable oxide to form second trenches between adjacent fins of the plurality of fins, forming a second high-k layer over the first high-k layer and the flowable oxide, performing a planarization that exposes top surfaces of the plurality of fins, and recessing the dielectric layer to form a plurality of dummy fins that include remaining portions of the first and second high-k layers and the flowable oxide.

Methods of manufacturing and processing semiconductor devices (i.e., electronic devices) are described. Embodiments of the disclosure advantageously provide electronic devices which meet reduced thickness, lower thermal budget, and Vt requirements, and have improved device performance and reliability. The electronic devices described herein comprise a source region, a drain region, and a channel separating the source region and the drain region, an interfacial layer on a top surface of the channel, a high- dielectric layer on the interfacial layer, a dipole layer on the high- dielectric layer, and a capping layer on the dipole layer. In some embodiments, the dipole layer comprises a metal oxynitride (MON), such as aluminum oxynitride (AlON). In some embodiments, the methods comprise annealing the substrate to drive atoms from the dipole layer into one or more of the interfacial layer or the high-k dielectric layer.